As co-author of a new book titled “Cereal Killers” slated for release in the fall of 2009, the study of the impact of gluten continues to be a driving passion in my life.

I am fascinated by the way that gluten induces illness and impedes learning while it alters mood, behavior, and a host of other facets of human existence. Sure, gluten’s impact on health is an important issue, but that is only the most obvious area of impact. Mood disturbances, learning disabilities, and the loss of quality of life due to psychiatric and neurological illness are even more tragic than the plethora of physical ailments that are caused or worsened by gluten. The further I go down this rabbit hole, the more I realize that grains are a good food for ruminants - not people. I teach at the Royal Roads University, Continuing Studies.

Don Wiss forwarded the following post
to me:
I know you have studied celiac disease for a long time

Don Wiss forwarded the following post
to me:

I know you have studied celiac disease for a long time. However, I need to disagree with the statement that
fibromyalgia indicates celiac disease. It has been proven that persons with fibromyalgia have a decreased amount
of serotonin and an increased amount of substance P in their spinal fluid. This indicates it is a result of not enough
serotonin in the brain. Many of us who suffer from fibromyalgia do not have any problems with the digestive
system at all. There are also PET scans that indicate that fibromyalgia patients have less dopamine activity in the
brain indicating it truly is more a brain disease than celiac.

The posters first point differentiating celiac disease from fibromyalgia on the basis of reduced serotonin in fibromyalgia may be unaware of the finding that celiac patients have fewer serotonin receptors on their platelets (1). Although I dont know about the spinal fluid, elevated levels of substance P have also been reported in the intestinal mucosa of celiac patients (2,3,4,5). A lack of digestive problems does not rule out celiac disease, as one of the foremost researchers in that area has reported that 50% to 60% of untreated celiacs are asymptomatic (6). Altered dopamine activity has also been reported in celiac disease (7). As regards the posters contention that it is really more a brain disease than celiac disease, the connections between celiac disease and altered brain perfusion (8), epilepsy without cerebral calcifications (9), epilepsy with cerebral calcifications (10, 11), a wide variety of neuropathic symptoms (12), and a number of psychiatric ailments (13), all counter the posters perspective.

Finally, if (the
poster) says that her fibromyalgia symptoms go away when gluten-free, and return when she eats gluten, I believe her.